Foreman, John. RAF Fighter Command Victory Claims of World War II, part one: 1939-1940. Walton on Thames, UK: Red Kite / Air Research Publications, 2003

ISBN 0-9538061-8-9
312 pages

Introduction; Notes; Acknowledgements; photos; tables; Conclusion

   Master researcher John Foreman, author of the excellent Fighter Command War Diaries series, with this volume kicks off a new series of books about the RAF during World War II. Where FCWD provides detailed daily data about enemy aircraft destroyed; probably destroyed; enemy aircraft damaged; RAF machines missing; aircraft lost and/or written off ("Cat E"); and pilots killed in action, missing in action, and wounded in action (all broken down by squadron within each day), the new series looks strictly at RAF claims.
   As Foreman points out, claims are far different from victories. While the latter are for the most part confirmed by supporting evidence, claims stemmed from what the pilots thought they had observed during the confusing swirl of air-to-air combat. Claims, consequently, inevitably outnumbered confirmed victories.
   While lists of RAF victories and aces have been previously tabulated, this is the first published compilation of claims made by Fighter Command pilots. The format is simple. For each date from 16 October 1939 through 29 December 1940, claims are listed by squadron and, within each squadron, by pilot. Each claim is given on a single line of tabular text and includes the squadron number, name and rank of pilot, type of enemy aircraft claimed, category of claim (destroyed, probably destroyed, or damaged), where the claim occurred, and the time of day. For this period of time, the total number of claims amounts to nearly 5000 enemy aircraft.
   Here's a sample of a typical day's data:

   A few photos are scattered throughout the book, but otherwise that's it—just page after page of victory claims by RAF pilots.
   This is an impressive compilation of data and represents what must have been a labor of love on the part of Foreman. For anyone interested in this material, the book will prove indispensable. Unfortunately, however, it contains no index, which means that claims for any individual pilot can only be found by thumbing tediously through the book. In any event, it must be said, most readers will find the new series less fulfilling than the much richer FCWD series.

Prien, Jochen and Gerhard Stemmer. Jagdgeschwader 3 Udet in World War II: II./JG 3 in Action with the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 2003

ISBN 0-7643-1774-1
408 pages

Introduction; maps; photos; drawings; Bibliography and Acknowledgements

Appendices: Command Positions; Loss List; Victory List; Aircraft Inventory List; Bases of Operation

   Like John Foreman, Jochen Prien is a well-respected author of books about WWII air operations. The third volume of his earlier series covering Jagdgeschwader 53 copped one of our Top Ten Awards for 1999. His new series, co-written with Gerhard Stemmer, appears equally strong. The first volume dealt with I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 and this volume examines the original II. Gruppe (later transferred to JG 7) and the replacement II. Gruppe. Future volumes will cover III. Gruppe and IV. (Sturm) Gruppe.
   II. Gruppe had an eventful and varied career. Formed in 1940, it saw action during the blitzkrieg campaign in the West in 1940, took part in the Battle of Britain, transferred to the Russian Front for Operation Barbarossa, moved to the Mediterranean and fought over Malta during the first months of 1942, returned to the Russian Front for the 1942 summer offensive, transferred to Germany for defense against the Allied bomber offensive, and suffered heavy casualties in operations during the Normandy campaign. Afterwards II. Gruppe moved to JG 7 and a replacement II. Gruppe ended the war engaged on the crumbling Russian Front.
   The book is structured much like the earlier JG 53 volumes with an overview of each campaign, notes about the general course of air operations, and detailed descriptions of the Gruppe's missions as well as information about individual pilots. Here's a short example of how Prien and Stemmer deal with the action:

   Meanwhile, the initially determined resistance by the Soviet armies on the left wing of Army Group South's front had lessened and the Russian troops had begun withdrawing to the east, allowing the German advance across the Bug to gain ground. On 26 June strong German armored forces crossed the line Dubno-Lutsk, took the latter town after fierce house-to-house fighting, and ended up north of the city advancing toward the Kovel line. The units of V Fliegerkorps were ordered to support Panzergruppe 1's advance to the east while simultaneously guarding the flanking areas against Soviet counterattacks. As well, at this the Gruppen of JG 3 carried out their first transfers. In the morning the air element of II/JG 3 flew from Hostynne to Wlodzimierz, a forward airfield about 20 kilometers east of the unit's previous base. The ground elements followed over poor and often crowded advance roads, while during the course of the day Hostynne airfield was occupied by III/JG 3. which had been moved forward. On its very first day of operations from Wlodzimierz, II/JG 3 flew a series of missions and scored a total of twelve victories in the process, including nine DB-3s shot down by 5 Staffel in a morning engagement in the Dubno area. On the other side of the coin, the Gruppe suffered an especially painful loss when it lost its Kommandeur; during a free chase mission west of Stoyanov, Hptm. Lothar Keller's machine was rammed by another Messerschmitt and he crashed to his death. Hptm. Keller had scored six of his total of twenty victories during his short time with II/JG 3. and his accomplishments were honored with the posthumous awarding of the Knight's Cross on 9 July 1941. On the following day, the Kapitan of 4 Staffel, Hauptmann Gordon Gollob, was named to succeed Keller, and in turn Oblt. Karl Faust assumed command of 4/JG 3. 4 Staffel also mourned the loss of one of its pilots: Obfw. Anton Gremm, who had downed another DB-3 during an early afternoon mission, failed to return after an evening scramble to intercept a reported formation of eight SB-2s. He was listed as missing, until he was found dead by German troops several days later; he had probably fallen victim to return fire from the Russian twin-engined bombers. A further casualty was reported by 6 Staffel: after returning from a defensive patrol over the advance roads, Lt. Ludwig Hafner made a forced landing at Hostynne, suffering minor injuries in the process.

   Also like the JG 53 books, this series features a great many photos as well as maps, but considerably fewer first-hand accounts by veterans, so that JG 3's story feels less personal. Unlike the older series, the new book also contains a heavy dose of footnotes, which also tends to make it feel more professional. The book concludes with several lengthy, data-intensive appendices in tabular format covering commanders, victories, losses, and aircraft. Unfortunately—is this a trend?—no index is included.
   Also of note, the authors add a couple of interesting and forceful paragraphs in their Introduction, taking a broad view of the topic:

   The Messerschmitt Bf 109 may also be seen as a symbol in another respect, namely for the rise and fall of the Luftwaffe. When the war began the Messerschmitt fighter was superior to all enemy types; then. in 1940, it met an equal, the British Spitfire, for the first time. The type reached its peak of development in the F-series in 1941-42. and from 1943 on it fell farther and farther behind the Allied fighters. Instead of receiving a new aircraft able to meet the demands of the air war, the German fighter arm was forced to fight the great air battles over the Reich in 1944 with the now obsolescent "Beule". Only the most experienced pilots stood a chance of surviving against their technically and numerically far superior foe, while the young, inexperienced replacement pilots and their Messerschmitts were literally knocked out of the air in droves.
   The Bf 109 can also serve as a symbol of another topic rarely mentioned in literature concerning the air war—the war profiteering of the German aviation industry during the years of the so-called "Third Reich". In the years from 1933 to 1945, the Messerschmitt AG experienced a dramatic rise in profits, from a meager 166,000 Reichsmark in 1933 to no less than 255,830,000 Reichsmark in 1943, an increase of 15.411%. This was in no small part due to the company's close contacts with leading officials of the Nazi Party. The Messerschmitt AG did not hesitate to use foreign workers and concentration camp inmates as labor to achieve this unbelievable rise and meet the production quotas worked out with the RLM.
   The fighter pilots we see in this book cannot be blamed for all of this, for when Hitler assumed power on 30 January 1933 most were between eight and fifteen years old. Instead they were willing tools and consequently became the victims of an unholy alliance between megalomaniacal Philistines (the leaders of the National-Socialist movement), a power- and fame-hungry Wehrmacht command, and profit-seeking big business. For this reason, therefore, in spite of the briefness of the text the authors have allocated sufficient space to publish the names of all the pilots and ground crews who lost their lives, were posted missing, were wounded or injured, or were taken prisoner while serving with II Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "UDET". In the opinion of the authors, the overwhelming majority were victims of the criminal National-Socialist state, which lied to and deceived them about its true plans and intentions while demanding that they make the greatest sacrifices, and whose war crippled them and deprived them of the chance for a peaceful life. The viewer of these photographs must also keep in mind the countless other victims who came into contact with the Messerschmitt in one way or another, whether as forced laborers or concentration camp inmates forced to assist in producing the machine in the Messerschmitt factories, as members of the ground personnel who were lost far from home in Russia or Africa, or as pilots of enemy machines. Also victims were the relatives of fallen. missing and wounded pilots, families which lost a son or brother, women who lost a husband, children who lost their fathers. All of this and much more stands behind these photographs and gives cause to reflect on pictures from are own time which are depressingly similar. If this work succeeds in preserving this awareness or awakening it where it does not already exist, it will have achieved its underlying purpose.

   This is a terrific unit history that should be of interest to anyone studying the air war in Europe during 1939-1945.

Cull, Brian with Paul Sortehaug and Mark Haselden. Buffaloes over Singapore: RAF, RAAF, RNZAF, and Dutch Brewster Fighters in Action over Malaya and the East Indies, 1941-42. London: Grub Street, 2003

ISBN 1-904010-32-6
254 pages

Foreword; Brewster Buffalo; Recollections; maps; photos; footnotes; Select Bibiliography; Additional Acknowledgements; Index

Appendices: Sgt Harry Griffiths; Geoff Fisken; Roll of Honour; Known Combat Claims and Credits; Buffaloes Issues to RAF Far East Command

   Although perhaps not the first to employ such a technique, Chris Shores with books like Fighters over the Desert and Fighters over Tunisia began to master the detailed, day-by-day, dogfight-by-dogfight chronicle of fighter operations using official records as well as letters, diaries, and recollections of pilots who flew the planes in combat. Brian Cull has collaborated with Shores and has demonstrated his own competence and flair for reconstructing this kind of intensely dramatic, blow-by-blow history of air operations with a string of successful books including Hurricanes over Tobruk, Spitfires over Sicily, and Hurricanes over Malta.
   Among their collaborations, Cull and Shores (along with Yausho Izawa) co-wrote a two-volume history of the air over Malaya, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies in the early days of the Pacific war, Bloody Shambles. In his latest book, Cull turns his attention back to that scene. This time around, with a new pair of collaborators, he focuses almost exclusively on Allied squadrons equipped with the American-built Brewster Buffalo fighter engaged against the more numerous and far more potent Japanese fighters.
   Inevitably, Cull plows some of the same ground all over again. On 10 January 1942, for example, the Buffaloes scored a victory. Here's how it's described in Bloody Shambles.

   During the morning radar operators at Singapore meticulously plotted the course of a single reconnaissance aircraft as it approached the Island, the Fighter Controller vectoring two patrolling Buffaloes of 243 Squadron to intercept. The twin-engined Ki 46 of the 5lst Independent Chutai, flying from Kota Bharu, was spotted by Sgt Bert Wipiti, who succeeded in diving on to its tail, firing one long burst, gaining strikes on one engine and slowing it down. Joined by Sgt Charlie Kronk, the two New Zealandcrs chased it down, firing all the way until it crashed in the jungle in southern Johore; the crew of two were killed. An eyewitness recalled:

   "They turned on a good show for the spectators, making their kill in plain view of two airfields and settinu each engine on fire in a series of follow-the-leader attacks."

   Surprisingly, the new book lifts many chunks word-for-word from the earlier book. Here's how Cull describes the same incident:

   During the early morning of 10 January, radar operators at Singapore meticulously plotted the course of a single reconnaissance aircraft as it approached the Island, the Fighter Controller vectoring two patrolling Buffaloes of 243 Squadron to intercept. The twin-engined Ki-46 of the 81st Independent Chutai, flying from Kota Bharu. was initially sighted by Sgt Bert Wipiti, who succeeded in diving on to its tail, firing one long burst, gaining strikes on one engine and slowing it down. Joined by Sgt Charlie Kronk (WP-A). the two New Zealanders chased it down, firing all the way until it crashed in the jungle in southern Johore; the crew of two were killed. Both pilots were later interviewed by American correspondent George Weller of the Chicago Daily News, Wipiti simply stating:

   "I slipped down from above and gave him a long burst in his motor."

   Kronk was more forthcoming:

   "I came up from underneath and saw the big body of the plane with its great red circles on the wing right over my head. I thought, I cannot destroy a ship as beautiful as this. Then I pressed the tit and emptied everything I had into her. I kept firing until all my ammunition was gone. She was burning all the way to the ground, but the Japs seemed to think they could land her. But just as she reached the flattening point she seemed to burst into flame all over and an enormous sheet of flame shot up as she disappeared into the treetops."

   Vin Arthur, in his diary, wrote:

   "Both chaps attacked it simultaneously. Wipiti aiming at the port motor and Kronk at the pilot. Both used up all their ammo. They fired at the plane all the way down from 9.000 feet to 0 feet. When it finally crashed into a hill in Johore the port engine was blazing furiously. When Wip and Charlie got hack they both did victory rolls. I'm glad 243 got first blood and not 488."

   That evening, having enjoyed a beer with others celebrating the victory, Sgt Russ Reynolds wrote in his diary:

   "Greenslade, Newman, Kronk, Wipiti and self are sitting under the light in the big room discussing the day's activities. S/L Howell, F/L Garden & Bonham have just gone. The CO brought in a bottle of whisky from Far East HQ as a present for the victors. We brought some beer over from the Mess, so we all had a drink to celebrate. It's the best thing that could have happened, for we shall now go through them like a pack of cards when they come down. S/L Howell, Kronk and Wipiti are going out to the crash with a truck tomorrow to get a 'rising sun', and a bit of wing to nail up over the dispersal hut. I am getting Bert to lake my camera to lake some photos."

   The difference? In the new book, Cull has added several first-person excerpts from pilots who were on the spot. That pattern repeats itself on numerous occasions: the new book quotes directly from Bloody Shambles, then adds words written by British, Australian, New Zealand, or Dutch pilots who took part in the battles. While the original two volumes contained a fair number of veterans' recollections, extended personal accounts form the largest part of Buffaloes over Singapore. For example, when on 23 January Max Greenslade in his Buffalo was shot down over Malaya, the first book condenses his story into one paragraph. Cull uses most of those sentences, but inserts five different first-person paragraphs by four different pilots to expand the same story to more than a full page.
   Although the books are very similar, Bloody Shambles tends to be written from a more detached, less personal perspective (with a wider view of the entire air campaign from both sides) while Buffaloes over Singapore focuses much more intensely on the accounts of individual participants (and looks more narrowly at just the Buffalo-equipped squadrons). Many readers will enjoy the more pilot-centric emphasis of Cull's new book.

Hermann, Dietmar. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Long Nose: An Illustrated History of the Fw 190 D Series. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 2003

ISBN 0-7643-1876-4
206 pages

Foreword; photos; charts; tables; color profiles; Bibliography

   Another title from Schiffer rounds out this week's selections of aviation items. Unlike the other three, Dietmar Hermann's book covers the actual machines themselves—in this case the "long nose" variants of the Fw 190. Hermann gives us no statistics about claims or victories, little in the way of unit histories, and few personal accounts from veterans of air-to-air combat.
   Instead, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Long Nose looks at the design, development, and deployment of these fighter planes. The book begins with the early, radial-engine versions of the aircraft. Hermann then devotes a chapter to the development of the DB 603 engine, the power plant which was first grafted to modified, experimental 190s in March 1942. Modifications and flight trials are covered, along with development of the Fw 190 C and then the Junkers Jumo 213 engine. However, the "C" program was delayed and work commenced on the Fw 190 D, with the designs eventually redesignated Ta 152 and Ta 153 respectively. While the Air Ministry dallied, the war intervened.

   The fierce air battles being waged over the Reich and the resulting heavy losses in aircraft and pilots finally forced the RLM to act. Too late the RLM recognized the need for a new high-performance fighter. The radial-engined Fw 190 A serving in the Reichsverteidigung was unable to effectively deal with the incursions by Allied fighters and bombers. In the spring of 1944 new long-range escort fighters, the North American P-51 Mustang and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, appeared in the skies over Germany. Not only could they carry an enormous amount of fuel, they were also capable of outperforming the Fw 190 A and Bf 109 G in many respects.
   This finally resulted in a production variant of the Fw 190 powered by the Jumo 213 engine. Based on the Fw 190 A-9 which was in the planning stage, the project was designated Fw 190 Ra-8 internally and had nothing to do with the earlier Fw 190 D series (Ta 153). In keeping with the A-series aircraft from which it was derived, the new type was assigned the designation Fw 190 D-9. The first detailed information on the Fw 190 D-9 appeared in a Focke-Wulf development report dated 23 February 1944.
   The new Fw 190 D-9 was essentially a development of the Fw 190 A-8 airframe with the Junkers Jumo 213 in-line engine. It was never intended to he a major production variant, instead it was viewed as an interim type to fill the gap until the Ta 152 could enter large-scale production. All changes compared to the Fw 190 A-8 airframe will be examined in detail in the technical description which follows.
   Since 1942 Focke-Wulf had developed the Jumo 213 A into the 9-8213 E standard power plant for the Fw 190. The Jumo 213 offered a significantly better high-altitude performance than the 14-cylinder BMW 801 D radial engine. It was hoped that the new Fw 190 D-9 would enable the Jagdflieger to once again gain the upper hand over Allied fighters, however production was not scheduled to begin until August 1944. Until then the German fighter arm would have to face the Allies in fighters with an inferior performance.

   Hermann includes Focke-Wulf's lengthy (about fifteen pages) technical description of the Fw 190 D-9 along with sketches, plans, and cockpit photos. He then describes the prototypes, the beginning of production, and testing. The next chapter, "Operational History," explains the deloyment of the D-9s (although "space makes it impossible to examine in detail the interesting story of [III./JG 54's] experiences with the new fighter in the early weeks") and the same chapter includes some quotes from pilots. Of particular interest is the comparison with Allied fighters offered by one flyer:

   Compared to our opponents:

   Spitfire: the D-9 was better in level flight, climb and dive. It was slightly inferior in turns.

   Tempest: almost equal in level flight, a lengthy pursuit was usually fruitless. The D-9 climbed and turned better, but was inferior in a dive.    

Mustang: the two aircraft were about equal in normal combat maneuvers, which was an advantage for us compared to the A-8. The Mustang was rather faster in a dive.

   Thunderbolt: with the Dora-9 we had advantages in level flight, climb and turn. We were hopelessly inferior in a dive. (Never try to dive away from a Thunderbolt.)

   In closing, I can only say that we pilots of JG 26 were very satisfied with the new machine. Although some doubts were expressed in the beginning, we found that we were equal, and in some cases superior, to our opponents. We were unable to turn the tide, but we flew to the bitter end.

   Hermann follows up with a couple of additional pages comparing the D-9, P-51, and Spitfire XIV, concluding that by the end of the war the D-9 was already obsolescent and the Spitfire "was the standard by which piston-engined fighters were measured." Of course, the D-9 was not the end of the line for the Fw 190, and the book continues with chapters about the D-10, D-11, D-12, and D-13. However, the newest and fastest of the Focke-Wulfs were too little and too late.
   The book ends with four pages of color aircraft profiles but—as with three of this week's four books—no index. In sum, like Hermann's earlier Focke-Wulf Ta 152: The Story of the Luftwaffe's Late-War, High-Altitude Fighter, this is a solid and handsome but not especially spectactular or glamorous volume.

   All of these books are available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from the publishers or their distributors.
   Thanks to the publishers for providing these review copies.